The human hand consists of a large number of bones and joints. Injuries to and diseases of the hand can upset the alignment of those bones and the articulation of the joints. The hand can be prone to adhesion and stiffness following immobilization. Therapeutic splints/orthoses are sometimes used to protect movement of the joints in the hand or to gain or maintain movement of those joints. The splint may also allow or control articulation of other joints, such as the wrist or elbow.
Therapeutic splints can be applied by a therapist or other trained individual to help the patient regain his/her normal functionality of the hand. These splints may have outriggers that carry hardware to control movement of loops carried by the fingers. The control may extend the fingers to counteract the tendency of the injured to flex the fingers or may flex the fingers or other joints. By movement of the fingers the range of motion is restored and/or preserved. Currently pre-molded splints/orthoses are available that hold a joint or joints in one position. These splints are one size and may fit in one area but be too large or small in another area. Some of these splints are made of fabric with metal stays which can be removed and adjusted. Other splints are available which can be bent to position an entire hand. For certain problems, the splint/orthosis base is custom molded using low temperature thermoplastic materials.
Currently many types of outrigger, hook and pulley parts are available. These components must be manually put together before being applied to the custom molded base. Additionally, they must be manually attached to the base with rivets, screws, or bonded between thermoplastic layers. This multiple level construct is time consuming and once the entire constructed component is applied it must be entirely removed and reapplied to adjust the location for the correct line of pull. This is very time consuming and challenging for those constructing such devices.